


Unexpected Magic

by HelenPalsgraf



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Episode: s05e15 Swan Thong, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:08:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24948160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HelenPalsgraf/pseuds/HelenPalsgraf
Summary: Two one-shots: The first, alternate scenes where Zari goes to assist Constantine in research about the Loom of Fate. The second, post-Season 5 Finale. Spoilers through Season 5 Finale Swan Thong.
Relationships: John Constantine/Zari Tomaz | Zari Tarazi
Comments: 1
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Reposted to correct character errors. Completed work.

Zari squinted at the frozen image on the screen, still unable to comprehend exactly what she was seeing. Not a scratch on Behrad, not a hand laid upon him, but with his lifeline severed he just crumbled to the ground, the life gone from him. She knew she was torturing herself with watching her brother die over and over again at the hands of that monstrous woman, fate, whatever she was, images captured by Gideon but that she herself had missed entirely in real time. But she had to know how. She had to know exactly why. Because why hadn’t the Loom worked? Why hadn’t it brought him back when Charlie used it? Why could a life so easily be severed but not put back?

She backed the footage up again to view it frame by frame, looking for something she must have missed in the digital data that would help bring her brother back to life.

“It’s nothing any CCTV could capture, Luv,” John Constantine said gently as he entered the library, coming to view the screen by her side. He was intuitive, she’d give him that. “Not even Gideon. The Fates’ power is beyond our comprehension as mere mortals.”

Zari huffed. “Then I’ll find a way to comprehend it. It doesn’t matter what it takes, we’re going to bring Behrad back.”

“And I will do whatever it takes to bring him back, you have my word.”

She tensed, still staring at the image of her brother. _What was John Constantine’s word even worth?_ she thought bitterly.

John turned to leave, but Zari spoke suddenly, her voice thick with emotion. “He let her have the ring to keep me safe, but then he confronted her. He was stupid and brave.”

He flinched as he saw her anguished expression. “Nah, the one who was stupid was me, I never should have…”

She cut him off, not in the mood for his guilt when she was still angry with him for taking Astra’s side over hers. “It doesn’t matter,” she shook her head, regaining her composure and her hope. “Because we’ll fix it. We have a time ship and the Loom of Fate, and we’ll figure it out, we can fix all of our mistakes.”

“Doesn’t mean it’s okay to make them, people still get hurt,” John said gently.

“No, I guess we can’t fix everything,” she sighed, thinking of how complicated everything had become.

“But we can at least try to make up for it,” he said. “I really am sorry, and I’ll do everything I can to bring him back. I know I’ve given you good reason to doubt me, but I will do anything I can to fix this, I promise you.”

She nodded and turned back to the screen.

John sighed. “I’m leaving the ship for awhile, to do some research. I’ll let you know what I dig up.”

He was nearly out the door when she huffed again, “Fine, but I’m coming with you.”

* * *

John set the time courier and a doorway opened, directly into his living room, in the 21st century. She wondered briefly how much time he’d even been spending here, as she glanced around at the dusty light fixtures. They hadn’t spent much time here when they were chasing the ring, at least not in John’s time. She also wondered what the date was. Sometime in the early ‘20s perhaps? She knows she’s from the future, as far as the Legends are concerned. When she actually stops to think about it, it’s a little creepy that somewhere out there is a kid version of her, uploading dragon training videos, and John’s here like, what is he anyway, 40? That makes him 30 years older than her. That’s weird, right? Ew.

“Earth to Zari,” John snapped his fingers making a flame appear to get her attention, then blew it out. “I thought we’d start in the library before we move on to the archives.”

“Lead the way, magic man,” she said curtly, following behind him.

She hadn’t gotten the grand tour before, at least not of the modern home, so she was impressed by the size of his book collection. It filled up the shelves as well as several boxes.

“All of these are, what? Spells?” she asked, looking around.

“Some, not all. Most are texts on the occult, demons, magical creatures, gods and goddesses, from ancient times up to recent peer-reviewed studies and publications on the psychology of the possessed. I try to nab whatever I can find. Time travel has helped with that considerably. Useful to tag along with that lot and rescue a few texts from some church bonfires. I even raided the Library of Alexandria before Mick burned it down,” he grinned.

She snorted. “Mystery solved there, I guess.”

“I’ve got five boxes of books, papers and scrolls on this particular aspect of the divine. Hopefully one of these will be helpful,” he said, pulling out a chair for her at the conference table. She took a seat and he grabbed the first box, placing it in front of her.

She opened the box to find several of the texts written in Farsi. “Ah, I see now why you wanted my help.”

“Aye, those are outside of my skill set. I’m going to start here with the Ancient Greek instead,” he said, grabbing an armful of scrolls.

“Wouldn’t it be better to digitize this stuff? Then you could just quickly search it?” she crinkled her nose as a puff of dust emerged from the pile.

“Been too busy chasing down time demons, escapees from Hell and a Loom of Fate, Luv,” he smirked.

She gave an exaggerated sigh and unrolled the dusty scroll.

* * *

Several hours passed, and Zari was exhausted. And hungry.

“I need a break. Anywhere around here to go out and get food?” she asked, standing up and stretching. “You’re buying. My credit cards haven’t even been issued yet. I’m like eleven.”

“We’ll have to get delivery, everything’s closed with the plague and all,” he said, still writing notes on the text he was translating.

“Plague,” her brow crinkled. “Oh, that’s right. That virus. I missed like a year of school because of that. It was great for building my social media presence though.”

“What do you fancy, Luv?” he asked, rolling the scroll back up and setting it aside.

“Something not English. Preferably lower carb.”

“On it, princess,” he said, pulling out his phone. She rolled her eyes.

“An order of mixed kebobs, Bademjan, and Sabzi Khordan,” he said into the phone. She raised her eyebrows in slight surprise at his competency for Persian cuisine.

She paced around his living room, noting the obvious neglect of his cleaning staff, while he poured himself a drink. He sat down and watched her fidget.

“So, tell me, John,” she said bluntly. “What really happened to Astra? What happened that you would choose her over m— Behrad?”

He looked down into his rocks glass. He’s only on his first glass, but she suspects one bottle won’t be enough to get John to open up.

“It was my fault, that’s all you really need to know,” he said finally.

“That’s not an answer. That doesn’t explain how she ended up in Hell, or how her mother died, or why…”

John stood up suddenly from the chair, and snapped at her, “Just stop, Zari, I don’t want to talk about it.”

She felt her own anger bubbling up as she stood up as well. “Well, that seems like a problem since you’ve been letting whatever happened endanger everyone else, including my brother.”

He flinched at the comment and answered angrily. “Yeah, well, that’s what I’m good at, Luv. Endangering the people I care about. Your brother included. He may have been your brother, but he was my mate too, you know. He was a good man.”

She felt her eyes welling up with tears suddenly at his statement. “So I’ve been told. I wouldn’t really know. I barely knew him.”

He sighed and ran a hand over his face. “I know, Zari. I’m sorry, Luv.”

She nodded, furiously dabbing at her eyes. She would not cry in front of John Constantine. She would not.

He put his hand on her shoulder cautiously like he was unsure if it was the right thing to do, and when she didn’t knock him backwards in a gust of wind, pulled her in to his embrace.

She pulled away after a moment. “You’re right, it isn’t my business, I shouldn’t pry.”

He sighed. “I don’t mean to be… secretive… it’s just a painful past I don’t really want to revisit in intimate detail. And you already have a very low opinion of me.”

“John, I don’t…”

Just then, the doorbell rang, and John went to retrieve their food.

She sighed and waited for him in the living room, where he had laid a blanket on the floor in front of the fire.

The food was delicious, not cooked for the benefit of a western palate, but authentic like her grandmother used to make. Sharing the dishes with John, after a long day of doing grueling homework, made her feel warm and a little sleepy.

“I could use a cup of tea, do you mind?” she asked him as he cleared away the plates.

“At your service, Princess,” he smirked. She rolled her eyes and smiled.

A few minutes later, he brought out a tea service for them to enjoy by the fire. She took a careful sip from the steaming cup of a black tea she couldn’t identify, strong, made from loose leaves.

“I don’t think poorly of you, not really,” she said suddenly, remembering their conversation from earlier.

“No?” he asked, eyeing her from over his mug. “You still seem pretty cross with me, Luv.”

She sighed. “That doesn’t mean I think badly of you, I just want to get my brother back.”

He nodded. “I know.”

They sat in silence for a few moments before he spoke again. “She was abused as a child, Astra was. She was terrified and vulnerable, and her mum couldn’t protect her. She became possessed, that was her father’s fault. In trying to save her, I opened her up to something far worse, and I condemned us both to Hell. Her right away, and me, well, it’s something I’ve got to look forward to, I s’pose. I was reckless and arrogant, not much has changed there. Her mum couldn’t stand the grief of Astra being dragged to Hell and took her own life.”

“No wonder that she wants her mother back, but why do you…”

“Let’s just say I haven’t dealt with my guilt in the healthiest of ways. I’ve been in and out of mental institutions, trying to rid myself of demons there’s no exorcism for. But this is my one chance, to fix what I did, to save Astra, to...”

“To save yourself,” Zari finished.

“I can’t change what I did, but I can make things right for her. That’s all I want. It doesn’t change anything for me, but maybe it will give her a second chance.”

“Then what about you?”

“What about me?”

“This single-minded goal you have, saving Astra, where does that leave you afterwards?”

“I… I don’t know,” he answered, surprised. “I never really had a plan for after. I guess I never really expected there to be an after.” She could almost hear him shutting the door on any more introspection. “What about you, what comes next for you?”

“I guess I go back to my time and my life,” she frowned.

“Is that what you want?”

“I’m not sure what I want. I was only on the Waverider to figure out my brother’s secrets, and this whole thing with the timeline mindwipe. I have some hint of who I was in this other timeline, how to hack, how to use the totem. But not the memories. Not the feelings. Just more the intuition.”

“Do you want those things back? The memories? The feelings?”

She shook her head. “Not really. They aren’t mine, from a life I didn’t lead, from pain I didn’t experience. In the other timeline, my family was dead. I was a fugitive. I don’t want to know that pain, not when I successfully erased it.”

“What about the good? Your feelings for Nate?” he asked, suddenly quite bold, she thought.

She sighed. “Even if I could remember, I get the impression that Other Zari was a good match for Nate. And who I actually am… well… is just not going to be. I don’t want to hurt him.”

“Does he know that?”

“He does. I don’t think he’s going to give up so easily, but hopefully he’ll realize that I’m not the woman he loves, and I don’t want to be,” she said, taking a large sip of tea. “Maybe everyone else would prefer me to be the old Zari, the badass warrior woman, the hacker, the gamer, the bad dresser, the… donut-enthusiast,” she crinkled her nose, “But that’s not me.”

“For what it’s worth, I don’t prefer it either,” he said with a shrug.

She gave him a look that said she didn’t believe him.

“Nah, I mean it, Luv. You’re impressive just how you are. Saved my arse from a Hell weapon not even knowing if you could wield the totem. But the way you command a room full of dangerous killers even without magic sure is something to behold,” he grinned wolfishly.

She laughed. “I was quite a believable Cleopatra, wasn’t I?”

“Nearly as good as your Juliet,” he said, looking at her intensely. It made her breath hitch remembering what it felt like to kiss him, soft and reverent. The look in his eyes told her he wouldn’t be so gentle now.

“So you think I’m fine just being me? Vapid? Self-promoting?” she said, finishing her tea.

“Brilliant. Relentless,” he added, taking the mug from her and setting it aside.

“Hm. Good thing I’m here then, so we can figure out the Loom,” she said with a grin. “You obviously couldn’t do it without me.”

“Is that so, Luv?” he raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah,” she smirked, noticing how close they were, sitting on the rug in front his fireplace. “I can’t leave you alone with this, you get in too much trouble without me.”

“I get in just as much trouble with you,” he grinned.

She glanced down at his lips, and then back up to his eyes. “I think you like it though.”

“Oh, I absolutely do,” he said, his eyes darkening as he leaned in.

She moaned as his mouth claimed hers hungrily, his hands in her dark hair. Yes, far different than the kiss they’d shared on stage, and far better.

They continued to kiss heatedly, her hands tugging on his bleached hair as he kissed a wet trail down her collar bone. She then began removing his tie.

“You sure about this, Luv?” he murmured into her neck as she unbuttoned his shirt.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” she asked, surprised by his hesitation.

“Many reasons, but in particular, your thing with Nate,” he pulled away, looking her in the eye. “I just want to know you’re sure. I don’t want to keep you from getting something you want.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to be with Nate. But thank you.”

“For what?” he asked, his hands still stroking her hair.

“For caring enough to not let this be a mistake,” she smiled.

He laughed softly, his voice tinged with a lifetime of pain. “Being with me is always a mistake.”

“Well, consider me properly warned then.” She kissed him again, slowly this time, full of emotion.

They stopped kissing long enough for him to pull her shirt over her head. He pulled her onto his lap, her bronzed legs straddling him as her skirt rode up. He continued kissing her as he unclasped her bra, breaking away to kiss a trail down her chest.

They quickly removed the remainder of their clothes, the hum of magic all around them. She could swear there was a discernible glow, an energy she had never noticed before, visible in the air around them.

She pointed it out to him, and he grinned. He muttered a few words she didn’t understand, and the room glowed even more, highlighting the tendrils of magic in the air. She created a gentle breeze to create beautiful patterns around them and laughed with delight.

He pressed soft kisses across her breasts as he shifted her onto her back. She looked up at him, the magic swirling around him, and thought she’d never seen a more beautiful sight. She kissed him again, slowly, thoroughly, as she guided him inside of her.

It was nothing like she imagined it would be with him. Achingly slow and gentle, and so attentive. Her entire body was on edge and every small movement was beautiful torture in her search for release.

She could feel her climax building as he moved inside of her. She brought his face down to hers, kissing him as she rode the waves of their mutual pleasure. She finally came, clutching him tightly to her, as he came as well.

He kissed her slowly and reverently as they came down from their high.

“That was… intense,” she exhaled, as he rolled off her.

“Something about our energies combines into something very unique,” he said, still breathing hard, as he pressed kisses into her hair. “And very tantalizing.”

“So that wasn’t a normal experience for you?” she turned to look at him with bemusement. “Huh.”

“Give me a few minutes, Luv, and we can try it again,” he said, kissing her.

She pulled away. “Yeah, I don’t think so. While this is a nice distraction, we still have work to do,” she said matter-of-factly. “Find a way to bring my brother back, and we can have all the magic sex you can handle in celebration.”

He gave an exaggerated sigh. “Fine, back to it, then,” he said, as she tossed him his pants with a smirk.

There would be plenty of time to explore the possibilities of magic sex once their quest was complete. But for now, her brother needed them, and now that she’d gotten it out of her system, she wasn’t going to let John Constantine keep distracting her. She was getting her brother back, and as she admired the sight of John dressing, she thought the sooner the better.


	2. Chapter 2

Zari opened the door quietly, and closed it behind her, not turning on the light. She used the flashlight on her phone to find her way to the bed, the room still new enough to her to not have the steps memorized. 

“Hey there,” John mumbled, lifting his head from the pillow. “How’s Ava?”

“She’s finally asleep. It took a lot of convincing, and finally some sedatives,” Zari sighed, sinking down onto the mattress. “She probably should have just smoked with Behrad and Nate, then she’d sleep til the afternoon at least. Whenever that actually is.” She sighed as she looked at her phone, switching off the flashlight. It wasn’t good for much else in the temporal zone. 

“C’mere,” he said, pulling her close.

She crinkled her nose at the stale smell of cigarettes and whisky on him, but knew he must be having a hard time with Sara’s disappearance as well. 

“How’re you doing?” she asked, gently. She’d seen the ashen look on his face when his locator spell was unable to detect Sara Lance anywhere on Earth. While she considers Sara a friend, she knows John has a long history with her, and loves her just as Behrad, Nate and Mick do. She and Astra had shared a sympathetic look, witnessing the panic of their friends on the realization Sara was just gone. 

“Better now,” he said, burying his head into her hair.

“We’ll find her,” she promised. “We’ll get her back.”

“Does that mean you’re sticking around, Luv?” he said, his voice revealing how much he wanted her to. 

“For the time being, yeah. And you? Not heading back to that dreary house in 2020 England?”

“Pretty content where I am now,” he smiled, kissing her neck softly. He felt her shiver, and his cock hardened, pressing into her thigh, the only material between them being her skirt. Did he always sleep naked? Or had he just been waiting for her? 

She moved to bring her lips to his, kissing him with more feeling than she really ought to have. This was supposed to be a fun distraction before she returned to her real life. But despite their differences, the warlock with his rough, self-loathing, and arrogant bravado was beginning to grow on her in a way that was unexpected. She liked him. A lot. In no universe does she see this ending well, not in the least, but she can’t help but want to see it through to the end, whatever glorious disaster will come.

They continued to kiss, their need for one another growing more frantic. John needed her comfort, she could tell the way he gripped her close to him, as though she might disappear too. She broke away finally to discard her shirt while he fumbled with the zipper on her skirt. He mumbled in a foreign tongue until the zipper relented; she was unsure whether he was cursing or casting a spell. 

His hands roughly pushed down her skirt and panties, as he situated her above him. 

“Zari, I need you,” he said, his hands in her hair as he kissed her again. His voice was raw with emotion that made her heart ache. 

She sank down onto him. He moaned at the sensation as she moved on top of him, his cock inside of her, begging for release. He grabbed her by the thighs to guide her, rubbing her clit with his thumb. 

“John, please,” she whimpered, her hands tugging on his blonde locks.

“That’s it, Luv, right there,” he moaned, as they found just the right rhythm. 

Neither lasted long. With their exhaustion after the emotional turmoil of the evening, they soon collapsed into one another’s arms. She hadn’t even taken off her bra, she realized, as she fumbled with the hooks and discarded it. 

“I’m glad you’re here,” John said, pulling her under the covers with him. 

She kissed him again softly. “I am too.”


End file.
